Well Vitus, it is clear you and I are a long ways apart here. I understand your stance that he is one of the few, the proud the media and he has a divine right and responsibility to show everyone all that he witnesses in Iraq. I happen to think that just because you are there and a member of the self important media and a self proclaimed watch dog that you should, perhaps, take a moment to think about the consequences of what you report. It isn't just related to the war. The media has to make decisions all the time on what they will and will not show the public based on weighing it and the coverage agains the common good. You believe that this tape benefits the common good, fair enough.
We'd be better off not knowing, huh? Well, you don't get any benefit from knowing and any benefit you got was less than the damage done
How about Abu Ghraib- did reporting about tha t serve any constructive purpose? I guess that depends on how you feel about it.
Most Americans know that our soldiers do this kind of thing? Don't think so. Sorry, I guess I don't give myself enough credit or give the average American too much. After all the John Kerry stories you don't think people know of all the horrible things the US soldier does in conflict? We only heard John Kerry on tape about 3 times a week for 4 months.
5280, you won't admit even now that it was a mistake. You think he was defending himself and his comrades Your right, but I will make you this deal. IF the Marines say he did the wrong thing and the Marine was wrong for his action I will respect their finding and admit to being wrong. I wasn't there and have never been in that situation obviously, but find myself having a hard time holding that Marine to a standard I am not sure I could keep.
I guess you think airing this is going to expose our troops, somehow, to more hostility than they already are. I don't see how, myself Perhaps not our troops, but maybe the next Margaret Hassan who gets picked off.
what kind of negative coverage wouldn't you object to? This is pretty hard to list but in general I don't oppose reporting of US deaths or injuries, I don't oppose reports like the one on Al Jazeera someone pointed me to by an American calling Falluja a failure, I don't oppose people questioning the purpose or tactics of what we are doing there in general. I do oppose the calling out of one Marine by a reporter for an act that was arguably the correct choice. Had he walked up to a average Iraqi on the street and shot him in the head, then I would understand the story.
You have no grounds for complaint about unequal treatment It isn't about equal treatment. It is about people claiming this was an attempt to tell the true story of war, or make us aware of what war is. If that is the reason for the story then show the whole damn tape. If you want to show war then show it. Even Saving Private Ryan gives a more realistic depiction then this. If that isn't what the purpose is then don't claim that.
First of all, the investigation could take months or longer. So? If it is about justice and making things right then what does that matter? The important thing, like abu graib, is that the guilty pay right?
And the military has no expectation of delaying the coverage until their investigation is complete Agreed, but that doesn't say much.
There isn't even any reason to delay until the investigation is over, so the military can tell us what their findings are I disagree. I believe, regardless of what Sites may say, that the reason he released the tape is that he feels a sense of injustice. If the Marines could investigate and determine it was all "fair" based on rules of engagement then the story loses some wind from the begining and if he does release it, the Marines can come out and say we have looked into this and he did the right thing or he did the wrong thing and here is what we are doing.
Is it really so damaging to say, "Here's what happened. The authorities are aware of it, take it seriously, and are investigating vigorously."? It would be better to allow them some time to look into it because if it was the correct action then the story isn't so big, here anyway. You still get to see it and so does Al Jazeera.
Either way, it doesn't play any better in the Arab media Exactly, another reason to not show the tape to the public
That's lame. Really Fine but how is it untrue? Just because they hate us doesn't mean we shouldn't be concerned with what we do or how we act. That Marine may be the one to blame here, but just don't think it was necessary to show the whole world that incident.
Here's what I'm getting, 5280: This video shows an American Marine in a bad light, and you just don't like it. Therefore they shouldn't have released it. No, that video shows a Marine in a light that may be bad and at the very least shows that Marine in a situation most don't understand. You said earlier that most people don't understand that our soldiers make mistakes and if that is true then they surely are not smart enough to understand the complexities of urban fighting.
They shouldn't have released the video to the general public because it serves no benefit. We are two of the few who are still talking about it. Most people have moved on to the sales on Friday and couldn't give a shit about this, so not sure what we got out of it. Our friends on al jazeera, on the other hand, probably have it on a 2 rotation.
We'd be better off not knowing, huh? Well, you don't get any benefit from knowing and any benefit you got was less than the damage done
How about Abu Ghraib- did reporting about tha t serve any constructive purpose? I guess that depends on how you feel about it.
Most Americans know that our soldiers do this kind of thing? Don't think so. Sorry, I guess I don't give myself enough credit or give the average American too much. After all the John Kerry stories you don't think people know of all the horrible things the US soldier does in conflict? We only heard John Kerry on tape about 3 times a week for 4 months.
5280, you won't admit even now that it was a mistake. You think he was defending himself and his comrades Your right, but I will make you this deal. IF the Marines say he did the wrong thing and the Marine was wrong for his action I will respect their finding and admit to being wrong. I wasn't there and have never been in that situation obviously, but find myself having a hard time holding that Marine to a standard I am not sure I could keep.
I guess you think airing this is going to expose our troops, somehow, to more hostility than they already are. I don't see how, myself Perhaps not our troops, but maybe the next Margaret Hassan who gets picked off.
what kind of negative coverage wouldn't you object to? This is pretty hard to list but in general I don't oppose reporting of US deaths or injuries, I don't oppose reports like the one on Al Jazeera someone pointed me to by an American calling Falluja a failure, I don't oppose people questioning the purpose or tactics of what we are doing there in general. I do oppose the calling out of one Marine by a reporter for an act that was arguably the correct choice. Had he walked up to a average Iraqi on the street and shot him in the head, then I would understand the story.
You have no grounds for complaint about unequal treatment It isn't about equal treatment. It is about people claiming this was an attempt to tell the true story of war, or make us aware of what war is. If that is the reason for the story then show the whole damn tape. If you want to show war then show it. Even Saving Private Ryan gives a more realistic depiction then this. If that isn't what the purpose is then don't claim that.
First of all, the investigation could take months or longer. So? If it is about justice and making things right then what does that matter? The important thing, like abu graib, is that the guilty pay right?
And the military has no expectation of delaying the coverage until their investigation is complete Agreed, but that doesn't say much.
There isn't even any reason to delay until the investigation is over, so the military can tell us what their findings are I disagree. I believe, regardless of what Sites may say, that the reason he released the tape is that he feels a sense of injustice. If the Marines could investigate and determine it was all "fair" based on rules of engagement then the story loses some wind from the begining and if he does release it, the Marines can come out and say we have looked into this and he did the right thing or he did the wrong thing and here is what we are doing.
Is it really so damaging to say, "Here's what happened. The authorities are aware of it, take it seriously, and are investigating vigorously."? It would be better to allow them some time to look into it because if it was the correct action then the story isn't so big, here anyway. You still get to see it and so does Al Jazeera.
Either way, it doesn't play any better in the Arab media Exactly, another reason to not show the tape to the public
That's lame. Really Fine but how is it untrue? Just because they hate us doesn't mean we shouldn't be concerned with what we do or how we act. That Marine may be the one to blame here, but just don't think it was necessary to show the whole world that incident.
Here's what I'm getting, 5280: This video shows an American Marine in a bad light, and you just don't like it. Therefore they shouldn't have released it. No, that video shows a Marine in a light that may be bad and at the very least shows that Marine in a situation most don't understand. You said earlier that most people don't understand that our soldiers make mistakes and if that is true then they surely are not smart enough to understand the complexities of urban fighting.
They shouldn't have released the video to the general public because it serves no benefit. We are two of the few who are still talking about it. Most people have moved on to the sales on Friday and couldn't give a shit about this, so not sure what we got out of it. Our friends on al jazeera, on the other hand, probably have it on a 2 rotation.